Transitional Justice? What about Optimer Pharmaceuticals and Taiwan Styrene?

Transitional Justice? What about Optimer Pharmaceuticals and Taiwan Styrene?
United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
March 25, 2016

Executive Summary: Transitional justice means that improper KMT party assets should be recovered. For that, this newspaper has long expressed support. But what the DPP offers is phony justice. It is demonizing opponents and purging them, merely to clear the way for its own political and financial interests. It is ignoring ongoing injustices. If it persists, transitional justice will become transitional injustice. Today, the DPP is willing to talk only about KMT party assets. It turns a blind eye to Optimer Pharmaceuticals and Taiwan Styrene. One can conclude only that “Justice may not be completely blind, it is at least half-blind”.

Full Text Below:

The DPP is holding high the banner of "transitional justice", demanding the recovery of Kuomintang party assets and settling old scores. But recent turmoil in the stock market is something the DPP must answer for. It should enable the public to consider a different aspect of transitional justice.

Turmoil first erupted when Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey gave Optimer Pharmaceuticals stock his glowing recommendation. But news soon emerged that his daughter Wong Yu-hsiu, owned a huge number of Optimer Pharmaceuticals shares. This was clearly a conflict of interest. Nor was that all. Tsai Ing-wen's brothers and sisters are among Optimer Pharmaceuticals' ten largest shareholders. Turmoil erupted a second time when a proxy fight broke out within the Taiwan Styrene Monomer Corporation. A company formerly owned by the KMT, was now the exclusive domain of green camp shareholders. Chen Shui-bian faction member Lin Wen-yuan was now fighting New Tide Faction elder Wu Nai-jen for board chairmanship. Each side recruited money men to help them do battle. Wu Nai-jen attempted to make his 30 year old daughter board chairman. He has already successfully deposed Lin Wen-yuan.

What do these two developments have to do with transitional justice? First of all, the DPP has long attributed Taiwan's problems to "historical injustices" perpetrated during early Kuomintang rule. There is a kernel of truth to this. But it also creates an illusion. It leaves the impression that the DPP is the embodiment of justice, utterly free of corruption. This impression is not just wrong. It is also dangerous. Secondly, some social injustices are rooted in history. But others are current. During the DPP's eight years in power, it accumulated enormous power and influence. This political power and financial influence has grown by leaps and bounds during Ma's eight years in office. The green camp has monopolized Taiwan Styrene. Optimer Pharmaceuticals executives and green camp politicians have been working hand in glove. This is what enabled Lin Chuan to receive a 20 million dollar annual salary from the private sector. Thirdly, the DPP pays lip service to "generational justice". It swears that it cares for the younger generation. But the Optimer Pharmaceuticals and Taiwan Styrene scandals reek of inherited power and wealth. So just how convincing are the DPP's shrill slogans?

Take the Optimer Pharmaceuticals scandal for example. Suppose Wong Chi-huey was not the president of Academia Sinica. Suppose he was an ordinary scientist, dedicated to his specialty. Then touting Optimer Pharmaceuticals shares would be a purely personal matter. In a normal society, scientists should be free to express their opinions, especially when they are addressing their specialties. But Wong Chi-huey touted Optimer Pharmaceuticals stock in his capacity as Academia Sinica president. What's worse, he claimed he owned no shares. But it turns out his shares were purchased in his daughter's name, and that he is the company's tenth largest shareholder. Wong Chi-huey touted Optimer Pharmaceuticals stock for his persona profit. Naturally he will be subject to criticism.

Other suspects include Tsai Ing-wen's brother Tsai Ying-yang, a major shareholder in Optimer Pharmaceuticals, and head of the Fu-tai Investment Co, as well as Ruentex Group CEO Yin Yan-liang. Entrepreneurs investing in promising biotechnology companies in the marketplace is perfectly normal. But Yin Yan-liang is also the person who bought Tsai Ying-wen's shares in Yu-chang. This July, Yin Yan-liang was a candidate for fellow of the Academia Sinica Engineering and Science Group. It makes one wonder. Was  Wong Chi-huey paying back Yin Yan-liang before leaving office? Is it really appropriate to reward business sector sugar daddies with academic titles?

Taiwan Styrene was a company owned and operated by the KMT. That it has fallen prey to green camp politicians and businessmen strikes one as particularly ironic. The Lin Wen-yuan faction and the Wu Nai-jen faction once dressed themselves up as reformers. Now they are the spitting image of crony capitalists, Masters of the Universe, fearless and insatiable. Even more interestingly, their manipulation of the stock market utterly "transcends blue and green".  For them, it's kill or be killed. Their sole concern is family or personal interests in the hundreds of millions. Table manners? What are they? Recently New Tide Faction member Hung Chi-chang was purged, on grounds that he was "too close to Su Chi". Hung Chi-chang was decapitated, merely because he was concerned about cross-Strait relations. Wu Nai-jen amassed an illicit fortune in the stock market, yet is given a free pass. What values does the New Tide Faction still hold, if any?

Transitional justice means that improper KMT party assets should be recovered. For that, this newspaper has long expressed support. But what the DPP offers is phony justice. It is demonizing opponents and purging them, merely to clear the way for its own political and financial interests. It is ignoring ongoing injustices. If it persists, transitional justice will become transitional injustice. Today, the DPP is willing to talk only about KMT party assets. It turns a blind eye to Optimer Pharmaceuticals and Taiwan Styrene. One can conclude only that “Justice may not be completely blind, it is at least half-blind”.

轉型正義看不見浩鼎與台苯案？

2016-03-25聯合報

正當民進黨高舉「轉型正義」大旗追討國民黨黨產，並清算各項歷史舊帳之際，最近發生在股市的兩起風波，恐怕是他們必須正視的事，同時也恰可讓社會大眾思考轉型正義的不同觀照面。

第一起風波，是中研院長翁啟惠稍早為浩鼎炒股大力背書，近日卻爆出其女翁郁琇持有大量浩鼎股票，顯示他恐未遵守「利益迴避」原則；此外，蔡英文之兄姊亦為浩鼎前十大股東。第二起風波，是台苯經營權之爭，原屬國民黨黨營事業的台苯如今淪為綠營人士的禁臠，扁系人馬林文淵和新系大老吳乃仁為爭董座相持不下，各援引市場實力派助陣決戰；其中，吳乃仁企圖將卅幾歲的女兒推上董事長寶座，並已成功拉下林文淵。

為什麼說這兩件事與轉型正義有關？第一，民進黨長期將台灣各種問題歸咎於國民黨早年的「歷史不正義」，這容或有局部道理，卻也造成一個錯覺，彷彿民進黨就是正義的化身，沒有貪腐的問題。這樣的印象不僅是錯誤的，也是危險的。第二，社會的不正義有些是歷史因素，有些卻是現在進行式。民進黨執政八年期間，其實也累聚了可觀的政商人脈及權勢能量，在馬政府的八年依然源源不斷；台苯為綠營所壟斷，浩鼎的政商人脈，林全在民間企業年領兩千萬薪資，皆是因此之故。第三，民進黨將「世代正義」掛在嘴上，口口聲聲要照顧年輕世代；但反觀浩鼎及和台苯的運作，卻充滿「權力世襲」及「財富世襲」的氣味。在這種情況下，民進黨高喊正義有什麼說服力？

在浩鼎風波中，如果翁啟惠不是中研院長，而只是一介潛心鑽研的科學家，他要如何為浩鼎新藥辯護，其實是他個人的事。一個正常的社會，應能接納科學家直抒見解，何況這項技術確具關鍵性。問題在，翁啟惠不僅以其中研院長身分為浩鼎背書，更嚴重的是，他聲稱自己未持有任何浩鼎股票，卻被發現其實是以女兒名義持股，而且持股量高居第十大股東。如此一來，翁啟惠為浩鼎護航，就涉及了自身的龐大利益，當然引人非議。

除了翁啟惠，同時受到外界質疑的是，浩鼎的大股東名單中，還有蔡英文之兄蔡瀛陽主導的富鈦投資及潤泰集團總裁尹衍樑。企業家投資前景看好的生技公司，其實是市場正常現象；但尹衍樑除了是當年買下蔡英文宇昌股票的接手人，今年七月中研院院士選舉名單，尹衍樑竟也列名「工程科學組」院士候選人。這難免令人質疑，翁啟惠趕在卸任前回報尹衍樑。將院士的學術名器，用來酬謝企業家金主，真的合適嗎？

至於台苯，國民黨黨營事業變成綠營政商人士的俎上肉，更顯得格外諷刺。無論是扁系的林文淵或新系的吳乃仁，一朝脫下改革戰袍，馬上就地變成了呼風喚雨的資本家，且生冷不忌，胃口奇佳。更值得注意的是，他們和股市的作手合縱連橫，完全「超越藍綠」；而雙方殺來殺去，所爭的全是數以億計的家族或個人利益，到了不顧吃相的地步。日前新潮流將洪奇昌除名，理由是他「和蘇起走得太近」。試想，洪奇昌因關注兩岸關係卻遭開鍘，吳乃仁在股市聚斂家族利益反而相安無事；一殺一縱之間，新系的價值觀到底顯現了什麼內涵？

從「轉型正義」的觀點，國民黨的不當黨產應該追討；這點，本報已多次表示支持。但我們要提醒的是：民進黨抱持的如果是一種狹隘甚至虛偽的正義觀，一味妖魔化對手，利用清算鬥爭的手法來攢積自己的政治利益，卻不將目光投注到當下社會現行的不公不義，不反省民進黨人士在台灣社會的鑽營苟且；那麼，轉型正義只會被扭曲成「轉型不正義」。就像今天，奢談黨產卻看不到台苯和浩鼎的不公不義，那只能說是半盲的轉型正義。